Life with Lucciano
by IlanaNight
Summary: A series of Placido/Lucciano cutesy one-shots dedicated to monopura  I love you, Purashido   Warning, hints of bl in the stories, don't like, don't read
1. Why?

"You took my cards without asking," Lucciano sneered down at the smouldering ruins of Placido's body, reaching to grab the cards lying around the limp form. He turned with a scoff and began to walk away, "Serves you right, Placido."

The instant Lucciano knew he was out of the spectators' view, his shoulders slumped, a soft sob catching in his throat. He clutched Placido's abandoned cards to his chest, his entire body shakng with silent sobs. "Why...why did you risk this? Why did you...leave me?" Lucciano fell to his knees and dematerialized, porting back to his room under the lights of the Circuit.

Lucciano did not bother to look up as his door opened. Jose had attempted to console him several times, and Lucciano supposed the eldest Tenor was at it again. When no sound came from the doorway, Lucciano looked up and was confused by what he saw.

There, standing win the doorway, leaning against the frame with a bewildered expression on his face, was a man who looked similar to Placido. The only differences were a lack of robes and a shock of spiky white hair. Lucciano glared and then when back to staring at the white sheets, "Very funny, Jose. I know it's you. You can't even get a disguise right."

A soft chuckle arose from the man's chest as he stepped in to stand beside Lucciano's bed. "I don't look that old, do I, Lucciano?"

At this comment, Lucciano clenched his fists and looked up, tears in his eyes. "Why can't you just leave me alone? I know he's gone, but you have to give me time to grieve! Attempting to create false hope is pointless." Anger and then deep sorrow filled the young Tenor's eyes before he glared pointedly at the door.

However, the silver-haired man ignored Lucciano's silent request, instead sittin beside the crimson-haired boy. Lucciano sighed and curled in his shoulders slightly, forcing himself the invasion of his space.

"What will it take, Lucciano, to make you see that I am Placido? Z-One has given me a new form, but I am still myself." Placido reached out to grab Lucciano's shoulder, noticing the boy's utter lack of reaction.

"I-I saw you Placido. You were dead, in pieces even! How could you possibly be back?" Despite Lucciano's denying statements, Placido could sense hope and acceptance through the telepathic link. Placido moved the hand from Lucciano's shoulder to rest it under the youngest Tenor's chin, pulling his head up so that sorrowful emeralds stared into determined ruby irises.

"Lucciano, I know you're afraid of hoping, but you can see that I'm here. Only my shell was destroyed, my spirit remained. Z-One took it upon himself to give me a new, more armoured form." Placido smirked as the tension flowed out of Lucciano's form and confused joy spilled in.

Lucciano slipped his head out of Placido's hand to wrap his arms around him, pressing his face into the elder's shoulder as a mixture of sobs and laughter shook him.

Placido chuckled lightly and returned the hug, rubbing Lucciano's back softly. The boy shifted to accomodate for the weight of Placido's hands pressing onto his lower back, causing him to lean more into Placido.

When Lucciano's shaking stopped, he attempted to pull away, his cheeks reddened by blush. Placido's grip didn't loosen, however, and Lucciano found himself trapped. "Hey, let go Placido! You're new and you're already annoying me!" Lucciano smiled through his insult, happy to have a bickering partner again.

Placido laughed as Lucciano lost his joyful aura and was restored to his usual brattish self. He pushed the crimson-haired Tenor away, smirking as Lucciano fell of balance, tumbling to land on his back in the middle of the bed.

Lucciano sat up, leaning back on his hands with a playful smirk. Just as Placido stood up, ready to accept his victory, Lucciano sprung, knocking Placido backwards. They both landed on the floor, but Lucciano quickly got up and ran from the room, "You're it, Placido~!"

Placido got up to chase the red-haired brat, listening for the tell tale laughter, smiling. _"It sure is nice to be home." _


	2. A Sickness

P/L Fluff

(No useful title for this. Written because I'm not feeling well)

Lucciano woke up with a headache, nauseous. This was an odd experience for the young android. He shrugged and wrote it off as some sort of update, it wasn't as if he could ever get sick.

The red haired Tenor rubbed his eyes, hoping the uncomfortable sensations would dissipate soon. He couldn't have Placido seeing him like this. The elder would only use it as an excuse to poke fun at Lucciano. Signs of weakness weren't accepted well in Arc Cradle.

As he walked down the hall past Placido's room, he noticed the door was ajar and a harsh, hacking cough was reverberating through the hall. Lucciano frowned and pushed the door open, gasping. Placido was lying in his bed, cocooned in a mass of blankets, his head of spiked hair barely visible. Despite the heavy blankets, Placido was shivering in between his bouts of deep, dry hacking.

"Placido? Are you sick too? You seemed fine yesterday." Lucciano stepped over to Placido's bedside, a confused expression on his face.

His confusion grew as the elder Tenor laughed and reached a hand out of his blanket, lightly touching Lucciano's face. "I've been sick for a couple days, which is why I've kept my distance. Didn't want to risk you or Jose getting sick. Today is not my day, however. I woke up with a terrible cough."

Lucciano's confused expression turned to one of worry, if Placido had been sick, could it be possible that he was as well? Placido looked a lot worse than he felt, though. "Should I contact Z-ONE? I'm definitely not feeling up to speed today."

Placido's lingering hand on his face instantly flashed to his forehead, checking the temperature. Then, noticing that Lucciano felt warm even to his fevered skin, Placido's eyes grew wide, "Lucciano, you're burning. Quickly, contact Z-ONE and then get rest, I don't want you to end up with what I have."

Lucciano nodded and turned to leave, stopping to push a stray lock of sweat-moistened hair out of Placido's face with a smile, "Feel better, Placido. I'll bring Z-ONE to help you," and walked out of the room, carefully closing the door behind him.

After attempting to contact Z-ONE, and failing because of some form of internal network error, Lucciano returned to his room, deciding to take Placido's advice. He truly wasn't feeling up to watching the Circuit today. His headache hadn't improved, and if anything, he felt more nauseous. Lucciano opened the door to his room and walked to sit on his bed, staring at the wall.

After about 5 minutes of blank staring, he shook himself out and sighed. He really should take a nap, the desire for which was odd in and of itself. Lucciano laid down, pulling the blankets around himself and curling up, drifting off to sleep.

When Lucciano woke up, he immediately wished he hadn't. His headache was gone, but an overwhelming desire to cough up his insides had taken its place. He slowly sat u, groaning as he looked around. For some reason, his door was open. "_I thought I closed that,_"Lucciano shrugged, not willing to devote much thought to the subject.

Lucciano heard voices echoing down the corridor into his room, so he mustered up some strength and got out of bed, shivering. He sighed and donned his robes, fully wrapping himself, trying his hardest to keep warm.

He followed the voices to the communications room, where he saw Placido, looking considerably better than yesterday, talking to Z-ONE through a link. The image seemed rather fuzzy, which was odd, considering their advanced technology. Placido, despite his better physical condition, looked upset. Lucciano focused to hear Placido's end of the conversation, unable to catch Z-ONE's due to Placido's headset.

"You don't know what's going on?...I'm sick, and when I checked in on Lucciano this morning, he was worse than yesterday...You just want us to sit here?...What if-" Placido's voice had grown more irritated until it had cut of in a fit of hoarse coughing. "Fix it, Z-ONE, and soon."

Placido broke the connection and buried his face in his hands, screaming in anguish. He couldn't just sit by while Lucciano suffered as he had. Placido sighed and got up, turning to the door and deadpanning. "Lucciano, why aren't you in bed? I checked in on you this morning, and you looked terrible. No offense, but that hair of yours looks like it's been through another war."

Lucciano lightly scoffed, not wanting to risk breaking out in a hacking spree and alerting Placido to his symptoms. "That's rich, coming from you. I saw how you looked yesterday, Placido. You should be in bed as well. I'm up because it's too cold and I heard you talking."

Placido's angry expression quickly shifted to something softer and he walked over to Lucciano, encompassing the younger Tenor in a tight hug. He could feel the boy's body shivering and sighed. "You've got a fever, Lucci," Lucciano made a soft sound of humor at the new nickname, "and should be in bed to keep the rest of you warm. Here, I'll make it easier for you." Placido shifted his grip slightly and lifted Lucciano carefully, not wanting to hurt him or cause him to breathe too hard.

Lucciano's pale face twisted itself into an indignant pout, but he couldn't bother to reprimand Placido. It was much warmer in the elder's arms, so Lucciano allowed himself to be carried, snuggling into Placido's shoulder. "Fine, but you need to sleep too. You were sick in bed yesterday, there's no way I'm going to believe you slept through it that fast. You're not that good."

Placido softly chuckled as Lucciano expressed his concern in a slightly more usual, snide way. At least he hadn't totally lost the little brat to sickness. Placido found himself agreeing with Lucciano, he needed rest. He sighed, "_When I admit Lucciano is right, I know something's wrong with me." _

Placido nudged open the door to Lucciano's room and walked over, attempting to place the red headed boy on the bed. However, the boy was clinging to his robes, comfortable in the warmth. Placido rolled his eyes and carefully laid down with Lucciano, wrapping the youngest Tenor in the white blankets. He then tried once again to extricate himself.

Lucciano only held Placido tighter and made a soft sound of complaint. "You're not going anywhere. If you leave, I can't be certain that you got your rest, Placido. You are staying right here, and that's an order."

Placido stared incredulously at Lucciano, who had a tired, yet stubborn expression, and sighed. The boy wasn't going to allow him to leave anytime soon, so there was no reason for him to try. Lucciano had a death grip on his robes, and pulling away would only result in the fabric ripping. Placido shook his head at Lucciano's strange protective instinct and wrapped them both in blankets.

Lucciano smiled and nuzzled the side of Placido's neck, "There, now we're both warm, and we can get rest." He yawned wide and relaxed, curling in on himself slightly, "Sleep well, Placido."

Placido smiled at the now sleeping boy and leaned down to kiss the top of his head, "Good night, Lucci. Feel better, little one." He listened to Lucciano's soft, shallow breathing for a short time before he found himself being lulled to sleep.


	3. Do You Smile?

Placido sat on his throne with a frown upon his face. The red-haired tenor across from him pouted up at the elder boy, slight confusion in his eyes.

"Placido, do you ever smile?" Lucciano asked, flashing Placido a quick grin as an example.

Placido's expression remained blank, aside from a hint of annoyance. "Maybe if I wasn't forced to spend every waking moment putting up with you and your habitually annoying tendencies, I would smile."

Lucciano's face fell at Placido's statement and he looked down at his feet for several minutes before dissipating into thin air. Placido continued to stare at the youngest tenor's empty throne with a perturbed expression on his face. _"Wonder what upset him so much? Usually he'd be overjoyed to know that he was the primary cause of my annoyance." _Placido shrugged and looked away from the throne. He knew Lucciano would quickly get over it and return to his old self in a day at most.

However, it seemed that Placido's assumptions were wrong. Two days passed and he still hadn't seen the young red-head, let alone actually gotten to speak to him. Placido didn't want to admit it to himself, but he found himself worrying. It was actually quite strange, walking down the hallways of their palace of sorts and not hearing the high-pitched laughter that had often pervaded their home. Placido sighed and took a look down the hall in which Lucciano resided, noticing that the door was fully closed. _"I'll give it till the end of the week. If he's not back to normal by then, I'll swallow my pride and see what's been bugging him." _

The rest of the week passed in utterly silent observation of the Circuit. Jose never commented on the duels, and Placido felt that attempts at conversation were futile without his bantering partner. The quiet was eerie, the silence that comes with death and mourning, though, there was no reason to mourn. Lucciano was merely being moody, there was no worry of death or illness. Those mortal troubles meant nothing to them, but still, Placido worried.

Saturday morning he got up and walked resignedly to Lucciano's room, knocking softly on the door. When he received no response, he reached for the doorknob and was surprised to find the door unlocked. He opened it, softly calling into the room, "Lucciano, may I come in?"

A light hum that sounded neither approving nor disapproving came from the boy who had wrapped himself in a light took it as a yes and walked in, closing the door behind him. He walked across the room to the side of the bed where he knew Lucciano's face was, judging by the sea of red hair across the other side.

Lucciano refused to look at him, but focused on his sheets instead, a blank expression on his face. Placido frowned and knelt down so as to be on Lucciano's level rather than looking down at him. Placido's red eyes attempted to catch Lucciano's, but were unsuccessful. "Lucciano, what's wrong? And don't deny it, because you haven't left your room in almost a week." Placido's face held an expression of exasperated concern for the young boy in front of him.

Lucciano's eyes flicked up before his face fell down into a frown and he whispered something so softly that Placido could barely hear it, "You're not smiling."

Placido's expression quickly switched to one of confusion, "Of course I'm not smiling. This place is too quiet, I couldn't possibly be happy in a place more silent than a morgue."

It was Lucciano's turn to be confused now, it seemed, "But...you said you'd smile if I wasn't annoying you, and that I always annoy you. So, I figured that if I stayed in my room and didn't bother you, you would smile..."

Placido found himself smiling at Lucciano's odd, self-sacrificing logic and reached over to pull the boy into a strange sideways hug, nuzzling his hair, causing Lucciano to make a soft noise of protest. "Silly Lucciano...I didn't want you to lock yourself in your room. Sure, you annoy me sometimes, and I get angry, but I'd never want you to keep yourself away from us."

Lucciano turned so that he was facing more towards Placido and reached out to hug the silverette, laughing softly and smiling wide at the expression on Placido's face. "Hey, you're smiling. I got to see you smile." Lucciano's eyes glittered with amused happiness as Placido flushed.

"Well...don't expect it again, Lucciano. I only smiled because your logic didn't make sense, but it was kind nonetheless." Placido was looking away, out of the corner of his eye, and so he didn't notice as Lucciano swiftly moved up to lightly kiss Placido on the cheek.

"It's nice having you around too, Placido." Lucciano smirked as Placido's eyes widened in embarrassed confusion. It was nice to be able to interact with him again. For though Lucciano would never admit it, he lived to see those smirks and half-smiles, lived for the responses he got from the elder tenor.


	4. The Rejected

Lucciano always had been a curious boy. One day, whilst wandering the many streets and hallways of the Arc Cradle, he came across a room with a sign on the door. The sign read in bright red letters "DO NOT ENTER". Now, Lucciano was a very curious boy, and he simply couldn't let a simple sign change that.

Lucciano reached for the doorknob and was pleased to find it twisted easily and the door swung open. He quickly slipped into the room, softly closing the door behind him. As the door clicked shut, lights powered on and Lucciano found himself in a room that was both confusing and disconcerting.

There, lying on the floor or propped against walls, were what appeared to be carbon copies of Placido and himself. Lucciano walked closer to one of the doppelgangers and found, however, that they were not perfect copies. Some of the discarded droids had two fully functional eyes, others had the eye pieces switched. Lucciano couldn't stop himself from laughing at the errors in the pseudo-Placidos. One had Lucciano's green eyes, another streaks of red in his white mop of hair.

Examining the copies which he hypothesized were in fact earlier models made him wonder what would have happened if Z-ONE had decided he wasn't the correct host for the embodiment of Aporia. Lucciano shuddered and looked around him with great sorrow and wistfulness. _"All these rejects...I-I can't be here alone." _He quickly turned to run but was stopped by the white-clad torso.

Lucciano leaped backwards, yelling out in fright and looked up, worried that whichever droid still functioned enough to stand would go haywire and attack him. He was confused when a copy of Placido who looked exactly like the approved one. _"Wonder why he was discarded. Could he have faulty programming?" _

Despite his natural trust of the android who looked exactly like the Placido he had grown accustomed to, Lucciano backed away and tried to find a way around the rejected droid.

The robot cocked an eyebrow and smirked, looking for all the world like an amused Placido, "Something wrong, Lucciano? You're looking like you've seen a ghost."

Hearing the inflection in the voice made Lucciano lose the tension, only the proper Placido would know him as he was. The others wouldn't have had the chance to meet him. He shuddered and unconsciously walked to be closer to Placido. Lucciano didn't know why, but the dead replicas reverted to lifeless dolls disturbed him. He was suddenly very glad that someone else was here. "Uhhh...not a ghost, Placido, _those."_

Lucciano indicated to the hollow shells of themselves around the room and saw Placido grimace. The white-haired Tenor placed a hand on the small of Lucciano's back and began pushing the younger one towards the door, "Lucciano, we shouldn't be here. They deserve their rest. Besides, someone as outgoing as you shouldn't be in a morgue in the first place."

Lucciano nodded and walked to the door, taking a final look at the metal corpses, "Placido..." Lucciano trailed off, unable to find words to finish his sentence without making a fool of himself.

"What is it, Lucciano?" Placido stared wonderingly at the red-haired boy, who had become intent on avoiding his gaze, finding a particularly interesting tile to stare at. Placido sighed and crouched so that he was closer to Lucciano's eye level. "Now, we both know there was something you wanted to say, and I don't want you randomly shouting it out later."

Lucciano continued to stare down at his feet, searching for words, "I...I'm...glad...that we're not like that...I'm glad that I get to be me, and you get to be yourself." He gained confidence as he spoke and looked up from the ground into Placido's face, "Because if I had been tossed, I wouldn't have been able to properly meet you."

Placido looked shocked at Lucciano's confession, but gave him a half smile. "I suppose I'm glad you're here too. Life wouldn't be as interesting without you, that's certain." Placido's smile turned to a devilish smirk as the blush creeped up Lucciano's face. He leaned closer and softly nuzzled the side of Lucciano's face, earning a yelp and the heat of a darker blush.

"Uhh...t-thank you, Placido, but...uh...we should...probably be getting back home..." Lucciano's sentence was broken in his embarrassment, and Placido chuckles, pulling away and taking Lucciano's hand, opening the door, leading him back to their house as Lucciano's blush faded.


	5. Christmas Time

Christmas Time

Lucciano stared out the window of the limousine, bored, and noticed a strange sight in the window of a house they passed. There was a tree in the front room of the house, facing outwards towards the street. The tree was decorated with lights and various baubles. "Wait, stop." The limo came to a halt and Lucciano felt Z-ONE mentally questioning his actions. "I want to look at that."

Lucciano exited the limousine and walked carefully up to the window, examining the tree with mild knelt down and raised an eyebrow at the wrapped parcels around the bottom of the tree and returned to the limousine, his expression befuddled. "What's going on, Z-ONE? Why are there trees...and presents?"

Z-ONE sighed internally, wishing he hadn't stopped. "It's Christmas Eve, Lucciano. Tomorrow, mortals will give each other presents and sing songs to honor some religious deity." Lucciano looked intrigued and smirked as an idea presented itself.

"Z-ONE, could you drop me off at the shopping complex. I'd like to go get someone a gift for tomorrow." Lucciano laughed as he felt Z-ONE's confusion-laced disapproval. "I'll make sure I'm not back too late~."

Lucciano got out of the limousine as it pulled to a stop, not bothering to turn around, simply walking through the doors into what was quite possibly the most crowded place he had ever been in. Lucciano shuddered, then squared his shoulders. _"I'm buying one thing, then getting out of here. Too many people."_

And indeed, Lucciano was out of the complex within an hour, though, not without an ample amount of duress on his part, and more than one item. He reached into his backpack and grabbed his roller blades, switching off his shoes and began the trip back to his temporary home.

Lucciano walked into the spacious mansion, not bothering to announce his homecoming. He didn't need Placido watching his every move just yet. _"Well, I've got a present, but where in the world do find one of those trees?" _Lucciano sighed, then looked up to see a coat rack hanging across from him. _"I suppose that works well enough...though Placido might notice it missing...Oh well, it's not like we actually use it." _

Lucciano dragged the coat rack out of the entrance room into the parlor and ran back to get the bags from the store, making sure to lock the door behind him once he was in the parlor. Then, he set to work decorating his makeshift tree. He took out the silver fluffy material that was apparently called 'tinsel' and tiny colored lights. From what he had seen, these were wrapped around the tree.

Lucciano frowned as he realized wrapping it would be difficult without some way to keep one end attached to the coat rack. He got a stool which was placed in the corner for him in case he ever needed a book from a higher shelf and used it to reach the highest peg on the coat rack, tying the lights around it. He then jumped down and walked in circles around the coat rack, ending in plugging the lights into the wall.

He repeated the process with the tinsel, only leaving the extra lying on the floor around the base. Finally, he unwrapped the few baubles he had purchased and hooked them onto the pegs of the coat rack. He stepped back to admire his handiwork and smiled. Sure, it wasn't traditional, but it certainly was festive looking. He reached into the bag and took out a neatly wrapped box, thankful that there was a table of people wrapping gifts. He placed it under the tree and left the parlor with a smile.

Sometime later that night, after Lucciano had retired to bed, excited to see Placido's expression the next morning, Placido walked through the parlor and was astonished to see what the youngest Emperor had thrown together. He couldn't help but laugh at the boy's attempt at devising a Christmas tree out of a coat rack. Placido rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, wondering what Lucciano had in store for him tomorrow.

The next morning, Lucciano jolted out of bed early and snuck down the hall to Placido's room, opening the door and walking in. He carefully inched his way over to where Placido was sleeping and smirked, poking the elder Emperor on the nose. Placido's eyes flickered open into a tired glare. "Lucciano, what could you possibly want this early on a Sunday?"

"I want you to come downstairs and celebrate Christmas with me~." Lucciano smiled wide and grabbed Placido's hand where it lay on his pillow, dragging him up.

"Hey, hey! I'll go with you, just let me get up by myself, goodness." Placido sighed and followed Lucciano down to the parlor room, where, upon entering, he was met with a sight he remembered from last night. "...Lucciano, did you turn our coat rack into a Christmas tree?"

Lucciano smiled and nodded, "Yes, because I wanted something to put your present under, but I had no idea where to find actual trees, and Z-ONE wouldn't help me, so I used this. Anyway, here, merry Christmas, Placido."

Lucciano handed Placido the neatly wrapped gift and stood next to him, a wide smile on his face. Placido smirked and untied the bow, then ripped off the paper and opened the white box's lid. Inside lay a pair of the thigh-high boots he was fond of, alond with tubs of white leather polish and metal polish. Placido smiled at Lucciano, "Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"I'm glad you like it." Lucciano smiled back and bent to start picking up the discarded wrapping paper. Just as he was returning from the trash bin, intent upon clearing up the Christmas tree, Placido grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him so that they were facing each other.

"Lucciano, I really do like the effort you've put into this, but you're missing one key element of Christmas." Placido said, smirking, his hand hidden behind his back.

Lucciano frowned and looked around him, "What is is, Placido?"

Placido's smirk widened as he lifted his hand above them, a plant held in his fingers, he leaned down over Lucciano and whispered a single word in his ear, "Mistletoe," then softly kissed the red-haired Emperor, causing him to blush. "Merry Christmas, Lucciano."


	6. Not in Public

Not in Public

Lucciano smiled as he heard the soft clack of Placido's boots against the metal floors. He didn't bother to look up from his book as the door opened and those boots clacked their way over to stand in front of him.

It was only when the elder Tenor cleared his throat impatiently that Lucciano looked up with a smirk into red irises. "Yes, Placido? How is it I might be able to assist you?"

Placido smirked at the snarky question and leaned down so that he hovered mere inches above Lucciano, "Just sit right there, Lucciano." He chuckled deeply as he closed the slight gap between them, sweetly kissing Lucciano and reaching over to run long fingers through the younger Tenor's red locks.

When Placido finally pulled away, both Tenors were flushed and Lucciano's hair was looking slightly more ruffled than usual. Lucciano's eyes were wide and he looked away from Placido, blushing an even brighter shade of rouge.

Placido chuckled and lightly kissed Lucciano's cheek before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. Lucciano reached a hand up to touch his cheek, which was still burning with blush.

After Lucciano had calmed down by reading for roughly half an hour he walked down to their meeting room. Jose was seated at the table, watching what looked to be footage of some duel the blond Signer was taking part in while Placido leaned against the opposite door frame, a blank expression on his face.

Lucciano walked over to Placido and wrapped his arms around the taller Tenor, smiling. However, the smile quickly fell from his face as Placido roughly pushed him away with a harsh glare. Lucciano felt the hot sting of tears as rejection washed over him and turned, running back to his room and slamming the door, getting into his bed and covering himself with his sheet, sobbing.

Placido stood outside of Lucciano's door, cursing himself for his stupidity. He knew he had been cruel earlier, but it was simply an instinct. He could hear the soft, broken noises coming from the other side of the door and felt a part of himself freeze in self-hatred. Lucciano was crying because of something he did.

Placido opened the door and swiftly walked over to where Lucciano was seated on his bed, his face against the backboard. He softly touched Lucciano's shoulder and when he didn't receive a negative response, pulled the red head into his arms. This got a reaction from Lucciano, who snapped himself out of Placido's arms and rushed to sit in the corner of his room between his desk and the adjoining wall. He glared at Placido with a mixture of anger and betrayal, with sadness and heartbreak underlying.

The gaze pierced Placido as he walked slowly over Lucciano, kneeling so that they were on the same level. "...Lucciano...I'm sorry...I shou-"

He was cut off by Lucciano's voice, filled with both sorrow and anger, "You're not sorry. It's not as if you care about me anyway. I understand, Placido. I've always been a distraction for you, haven't I? Just a way to keep your mind off the girl you loved." The anger faded out of Lucciano's voice as pure sadness and loneliness crept in and fresh tears fell down already stained cheeks.

Placido hesitantly reached over, hoping Lucciano wouldn't push him away again as he wrapped the red-head in his arms, holding him tight as sobs racked his smaller form. "Lucciano...you've got it all wrong. I do care for you. I care about you very much, but, I'm terrible at showing my true feelings in public. I don't want others to see my weaknesses, only you."

Lucciano turned slightly to look at Placido, his face blotched. "You...you...do care?"

Placido nodded and softly squeezed Lucciano's waist, nuzzling his neck, earning a soft chuckle and a hand placed on his cheek.

"I will always care about you, Lucciano. Even if I can't show it." Placido felt the last vestiges of the ice melt as Lucciano smiled and couldn't resist leaning down to kiss him, arms tight around Lucciano's waist.


	7. What is All of This?

Lucciano smirked as he heard Placido leave his room and walk down the hall, closing the door between the hall and their meeting room. Presumably he had arranged a call with Z-ONE and did not wish to be interrupted. _"I know for sure he won't be returning to his room until the afternoon at the earliest. Gives me ample time to 'borrow' those cards of his."_

Lucciano swiftly got up from his chair and snuck down the hall, carefully opening the door to Placido's room and slipping in, making sure to close the door silently, lest he run the risk of Placido hearing the noise and coming to investigate. _"Now...if I were Placido...where would I hide my cards? Hmmm...probably somewhere I can't reach. Bookshelves~" _Lucciano looked around and smiled when he saw a promising tall bookshelf with boxes on top.

Lucciano frowned, looking around for something he could use to reach the top shelf, then smirked as his eyes alighted on a chair that looked to be of a promising height. He picked it up and set it down in front of the bookshelf. Stepping up on to the chair, he found he could just barely reach the box atop the shelf on the tips of his toes. He hopped slightly and grabbed the corner of the box, pulling it down with him.

However, his small jump had set the chair off balance and he fell, the box overturning, it's contents spilling out onto the floor. Lucciano's face whipped towards the door, expecting an angry Placido to burst in and scold him. When all remained calm and silent, Lucciano chanced a look at the mess on the floor, gasping and blushing at what he saw.

The box had been full of books. Not just any kind of books, mind you, but books with pictures that Lucciano wished he could un-see. Some had blushing boys on the cover, others men around Placido's age in outfits of leather, complete with those boots he was so fond of.

Despite the face that most of him wanted to shove the books back into their box and run to hide in his room until he was dragged out, a small piece of him argued that Placido's cards might be inside one of the books, or perhaps at the bottom of the box.

So Lucciano began his quest to find Placido's cards. Every book he opened scarred him more, and the mental imagery wouldn't disappear after he snapped them shut. The books with young boys on the front were filled with pictures similar to the cover. Boys about his age with blushing faces in various states of undress. Lucciano found himself blushing as he imagined Placido reading this, then shook himself out of his thoughts and put the books back into the box.

Horrifically worse were the books with the men on the front. The images inside those were nowhere near as innocently adorable as the blushing boys. Every page had men not wearing much, all of what they were wearing leather, and often holding what looked to be torture instruments of some kind. Whips, chains, handcuffs, rope, knives, and mechanical tools filled the pages, wielded by men in long black boots, and not much else.

Lucciano searched through every book for the cards, quickly flipping through now to avoid having any more images burned into his mind. _"Why does Placido have these books? They're so...perverse." _

Just as Lucciano was packing the rest of the books into the box and getting up to place them back on top of the shelves, the door opened and Placido stepped into the room, "Lucciano! What do you think you're doing in he- Where did you find that box? Please tell me you didn't look inside there..."

When Lucciano didn't answer and looked away, setting the box down, Placido covered his face in his hands and fell to his knees. Lucciano could see the rouge tinge of his cheeks and walked over to kneel beside Placido and placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, Placido, I understand you have feelings. It's not like I'm going to tell anyone about it..."

Placido chuckled and took his head out of his hand, still slightly flushed and reached out, pulling Lucciano into his arms and cradling the red-haired head against his shoulder. "That's not what upset me, Lucciano. I just didn't want you of all people seeing it. I was worried it would hurt your feelings..."

Lucciano chuckled and allowed himself to relax into Placido's embrace, content with the fact that Placido didn't seem to be upset at him for looking at the books, "No, Placido. I don't mind. You've got the mind of a young mortal man, after all. Hehehe."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while until a thought dawned on Placido, "Hey, Lucciano, why were you looking around in here anyway?"

Lucciano's eyes grew wide and he slipped out of Placido's arms, running down the hall, "Sorry, forgot I have to fix some bugs in the programming of my Duel Disk. Talk to you later!"

Placido sighed and shook his head, replacing the box of books on top of the bookshelf and moving the chair back to the desk, _"Well, he's certainly a headache, but he's my personal one, and it wouldn't be the same without him." _


	8. New Year's

New Year's

"Hey, Placido, will you stay up until midnight with me tonight?" Lucciano asked hopefully, looking up at Placido with a wide smile.

_"Ugh...why does he have to look at me like that? If I say no, I'll feel like I'm crushing his dreams or something..." _ Placido sighed and smiled slightly at Lucciano, "Well, I suppose one night of sleep deprivation isn't too bad. Sure, but why?"

"You'll see, Placido. While we watch them."

So, several hours later, at 11:59, Placido got to watch as Lucciano stared intently at the monitor, counting down seconds out loud like some sort of magical time piece. When the time hit zero, Lucciano turned to Placido with a smile, "Happy Year of the Dragon, Placido~" Lucciano leaned up from where he was sitting to lightly kiss Placido.

"This was what you wanted to wait for? To tell me it was a new year?" Placido looked skeptical, then jumped as he heard an explosive noise, curling up frightened.

Lucciano's face fell and he quickly crawled over to comfortingly stroke Placido's hair, "Shh, shh, it's alright. They're just celebrating with fireworks. Nothing is going to hurt you. You're safe, I'm here, Placido. Shh...shh..."

Lucciano stayed next to Placido, running fingers through hair that was soft as silk with one hand while the other held onto one of Placido's. Slowly, Placido stopped shaking and sat up, pulling Lucciano into his lap and gasping at the image on the monitor. "They're beautiful... Who would have thought that explosions could be so beautiful?"

Lucciano smiled and nodded. "I wanted you to see the fireworks. I...forgot about the reason you wouldn't like them...I'm so sorry, I should have checked to make sure the sound output was off..." Lucciano looked down and away, clearly ashamed of himself.

Placido chuckled and Lucciano could feel Placido's torso shake with his head. "Don't be sorry, Lucciano. I'm glad you showed me this. I've never seen anything more enlightening. I think...I can get over my fear now. You've shown me that fire and sparks can make works of art, without pain. Thank you, Lucciano."

Lucciano looked up with a tentative smile and saw an emotion that was usually out of place on Placido's face. There, in sparkling ruby irises, Lucciano saw joy, untainted by anger, sorrow, loneliness, or fear. Lucciano's smile widened and he wrapped his arms around Placido's neck, pulling himself closer and feeling Placido's arms tighten around his waist in return. "Placido...I made a New Year's Resolution to myself, and I don't know another time when I'll get to fulfill it, so I'd best get it done now... Placido...I...I love you..."

Placido's eyes opened wide and Lucciano blushed, avoiding the elder one's gaze. Placido was forced to remove one of his hands from Lucciano's back to grab the red-headed Tenor's chin and pull his face upwards, "Lucciano, you have no idea how long I've waited to hear those words. I love you too." He pulled Lucciano closer and kissed him lovingly until the sounds of fireworks faded into nothingness.


	9. Lost a Bet

Lost a Bet

Lucciano and Placido sat across from each other, about 3 feet between them, silently staring at each other. Lucciano's brow was furrowed in an expression caught between a pout and a glare. Placido's face merely carried an aloof smirk.

Lucciano crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at Placido, earning nothing but a roll of crimson eyes. Lucciano pouted and looked away, avoiding looking at Placido lest he laugh.

His lack of attention allowed Placido to inch forward, closing the gap between the two and reaching forward to pinch Lucciano's cheeks. Lucciano flushed and quickly shut his mouth before he could retort, shooting Placido a glare and shaking the intrusive hands away, pushing Placido backwards.

He smirked and quickly crawled over to sit on Placido's prone form, certain that this position would gain him a profitable reaction. However, no such reaction was received. Placido merely glared up at Lucciano for a minute, before an evil smirk crept onto the elder Tenor's face.

As Lucciano smirked triumphantly down at Placido, assured of his victory, Placido's hands ghosted up to lightly touch Lucciano's sides, applying slight pressure. Lucciano began to twitch and bit his lip as the ticklish sensation had him on the verge of laughter. Lucciano attempted to worm his way out of Placido's grip but was unsuccessful and soon, despite his best efforts, a sharp peal of laughter escaped his mouth and he glared down at Placido, who released him with a wide smirk.

"You lost, Lucciano. Couldn't keep quiet, could we?" Placido chuckled as he rose from the floor, taking his victory. "You know what that means, Lucciano. I get an entire day of you doing whatever I wish. That was our bet."

Lucciano glared at Placido with a hint of pink still visible on his cheekbones. "You cheated!" When Placido merely smirked, Lucciano sighed, "Fine. I'll keep my end of the bargain. I'll assume you want me to be your servant tomorrow, Placido?"

Placido nodded and smirked wide, ruffling Lucciano's hair as he walked past him to the door. "Be at my room, bright and early, my Lucciano."

The next morning, as the sun's first golden rays pierced the gray sky visible through the windows of the Ark Cradle, Lucciano sighed and walked down the hallway to knock on Placido's door. He grimaced at the prospects of being required to adhere to the silverette's every demand for the coming day.

Placido opened his door and pulled Lucciano into his room with a sinister smirk and walked over to the closet, drawing out an outfit that drained all the color from Lucciano's face. It was a traditional maid's outfit complete with fishnet stockings and white gloves. Lucciano grimaced and grabbed the outfit, walking to the adjoining bathroom to put it on with a sigh.

When Lucciano had slipped into the dress, which fit disturbingly perfectly, and pulled on the stockings and gloves he stepped out into Placido's room with a faint blush and a pout on his face. The pout was wiped off his face and replaced by a look of shock as Placido smirked and threw a pair of black pumps at Lucciano's feet.

"You always are complaining about being shorter than me. I figured I'd give you a little help in that department." Placido chuckled at the utterly mortified expression on Lucciano's face as he bent to put on the shoes. "There. An extra four inches."

Lucciano glared at Placido and huffed, "Is this all you wanted as your prize? Can I go now?"

Placido laughed and smirked wide shaking his head, "Of course this isn't all I want, Lucciano. I wouldn't go through all the effort to get you to agree to our little bet and win just to see you in a short dress, no matter how flattering." Placido paused to chuckle at the blush his comment earned then continued, "You're going to have the pleasure of being my personal servant for the day, Lucciano. Doing whatever I so will."

Lucciano's eyes widened and then narrowed into a harsh glare as the statement's finality sunk in. He seethed and stormed up to Placido with his teeth gnashed together. "Fine. Oh Great _Master Placido_, what is it you would first require of me?"

Placido smirked and ruffled Lucciano's hair. "Grab me something to drink and bring it back here, I don't feel like walking down to the meeting room." As Lucciano walked to the door to carry out his temporary master's order, a devious idea popped into his mind. "Actually Lucciano, could you pick up that book first? I think I'd like to read while I wait."

Lucciano gave Placido a blank nod and sighed, walking back to pick up the book that wasn't but five feet from the elder Tenor. He bent to pick up the book and heard what sounded vaguely like a whistle come from Placido. He quickly snatched up the book, gave Placido a glare that was somewhat lessened by the blush on his face and stormed out, heels clacking down the hall.

Placido smirked contentedly, happy with his prize. _"Today is bound to be a good day, for me at least." _He chuckled darkly and awaited his servant's return with sinister glee.


	10. A Lonely Festival Valentine's Special

A Lonely Festival

Lucciano remained silent on the ride home, sulking as he recalled the day's events. Today was a mortal holiday known as St. Valentine's Day, and the school was having an evening festival to celebrate. Apparently it was some sort of couple's holiday, so students were expected to bring a date. Of course, Lucciano's first and only choice would have been Ruka, but another boy, Sly, had asked her first, and being the kind person she was, Ruka accepted.

Lucciano felt anger and jealousy rush up into him before he quelled it as the limousine pulled up to the mansion that served as his temporary home. He hid his emotions under his trademark smirk and walked inside, heading upstairs to ponder how to occupy his evening.

The room next to his was a storage place for spare technology they had brought down with them from the Ark Cradle, tools to keep up their human facade. As Lucciano passed this room, an idea came into his mind. He stepped into the room and walked over to the holographic replicator. _"I know. I'll make myself a date. Design her from scratch to be perfect. See how Ruka feels." _

Lucciano spent the next several hours formulating traits for his ideal girlfriend. Short, wispy silver hair framing a fair face complete with deep crimson eyes. Taller than him, with subtle curves, and long legs. He gave her a simple gray dress that set off her hair and a pair of white boots. As he stepped back to admire his designs a feeling of familiarity came over him, but he shook it off. He was just using what appealed to him. "Now I'll just program you and give you a name. How about Pandora?"

Once Pandora was done programming into a portable form that could walk beside him, Lucciano and his newly created companion walked downstairs and out the door, calling back to Placido that he would be home later.

The ride to the festival was quiet, as was expected. Pandora wasn't as intelligent or adaptive as he was, and wasn't programmed for small talk. Thankfully, the drive was short and there was no time for Lucciano to begin feeling awkward with a hologram in the car with him.

The limousine came to a stop and Lucciano helped Pandora out of the car, glad he had given her some actual weight. It would have been nearly impossible to do this with someone purely pixelated. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and set a smile on his face as he lead her into the festival. "So, what would you like to do first, Pandora?"

The holographic girl smiled softly and replied, "Whatever you'd like to do, Lucciano."

Lucciano shook his head and laughed, pulling her closer. "No, no, I insist that you choose. Whatever you want, Pandora, nothing else."

Pandora frowned and tilted her head, "But, all I want to do is what you like, Lucciano. Isn't that what you wanted? Me to be your perfect date?"

Lucciano sighed and walked over to sit on a bench, closing his eyes, internally cursing himself. _"Why did I ever think this would work? A hologram can't respond the way a human or android can, it's not sentient. I should never have done this. I should have just accepted my fate and stayed home..." _

"Pandora, thank you for coming with me. I'm going to return you to the mainframe now. You can have a nice long rest there. It would please me." Lucciano pressed a square on the control panel in his pocket and heard a soft whirring as Pandora disappeared.

After about 5 minutes Lucciano opened his eyes with a resigned sigh, intent upon simply going home and reading before going to bed. He was fairly confused when he saw a pair of white booted feet in front of him. _"I'm certain I shut Pandora off...did the system malfunction?"_

Lucciano looked up and a pair of intelligent, if somewhat confused, crimson eyes bored into his, filled with so much more thought than the eyes he'd designed. Framed by a fringe of two-toned silver hair falling in spiked, with a mark under one eye, these were the eyes Lucciano loved, and now he understood why Pandora had looked so familiar.

Placido knelt down to look Lucciano straight in the eye, "Why are you here, Lucciano? I can see it makes you upset. Here," Placido grabs Lucciano's hand and pulls him to his feet, "Come back home, Lucciano, there's no need for you to be here."

Lucciano nodded, but stopped abruptly in the middle of the walkway, "Wait. This is still a holiday festival. I've come to the realization that no imitation could ever come close to the real thing. I just wish it hadn't taken me actually attempting, albeit subconsciously, to make such a copy...So...would you like to attend what remains of the festival with me?" Lucciano blushed a shade of red bright enough to match his hair and looked down.

Placido chuckled lightly and placed a hand under Lucciano's chin to bring it up, "As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I'd rather be able to celebrate an amorous holiday at home, where others aren't watching." He leaned down and lightly pressed a kiss to Lucciano's lips before picking the younger Tenor up with a smirk. "Come, I believe we have a festival to ignore in favour of staying at home."

And there, despite his sullen dislike of being carried, Lucciano felt at home before they'd even reached the mansion. Because neither the mansion nor the Ark Cradle were as warm and comfortable a home as Placido's presence, and no copy could ever make him feel like this. "Happy St. Valentine's Day, Placido."

"The same to you, Lucciano." Placido smiled lightly as he walked back through the portal he had made and into the mansion that for the moment was the house they had made into a home.


End file.
